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Wondering if I have " leftover" sensory issues and if they're contributing to my severe insomnia

cattywampus

Hi everyone! Newbie here, autistic adult diagnosed with Asperger's and later ASD.

This is going to sound stupid, but here goes anyway.

I used to have a lot of sensitivities to sound, but they seemingly went away over the years after I got put on antipsychotics. 

I recently realised I get very overstimulated by socialising- however I don't get exhausted, I get too "keyed up/amped up" and can't wind down.

That led me to wonder if I also still have some " leftover" sensory issues that aren't immediately obvious to me because I get amped up when I'm overstimulated instead of exhausted/fatigued.

I also have severe insomnia which I'm on medication for. I sleep at 5 AM on a good night. My insomnia is getting worse, which is leading me to become quite desperate.

I was wondering if reducing sensory input (by wearing headphones etc) during the day might help my brain wind down and help my insomnia, even though the link isn't completely obvious?

Any thoughts?

  • I've read your post with interest and can relate to the "feeling amped up" aspect but I've never been on antipsychotics so I'm treading carefully. As someone who is both hyper and hypo sensitive to sound, it might be worth exploring which sounds connect with you and bring you joy. It might be nature, music or something else. I'm finding this is quite powerful as a way to regulate when feeling amped up. Also it might be worth considering socialising isn't only sound but incoming information. So it might be difficulties with processing (like a bottleneck or ...overflowing bucket in the brain).

    I do use ear blockers when necessary for unpleasant sounds (often lots of noise all at once).

    Also, my experience is that one can spend a substantial amount of time being "amped up" (weeks/months/years) it takes time and the right environment to come back down to some sort of base level where the nervous system can recover.

    This is one person's perspective at this time on a given day and I am not offering any medical advice whatsoever.

  • in reply to Iain

    Thank you! I am on antipsychotics for another condition. I will schedule an appointment with my psychiatrist soon.

  • Hello Cattyampus, I would be curious as to why antipsychotics were prescribed as these are not typically used for autists.

    Clearly I don't know the full medical details (neither should I) but I wonder if these are a contributing factor. You don't mention if you have stopped taking these or not.

    In essence I am going to suggest you ask your doc for a consult and clean up your diet in advance of any meeting while making detailed notes to use to help work out what is happening.

    We cannot offer medical advice here for legal reasons so I would suggest speaking to your GP, lay out all your issues and concerns around the overstimulation / insomnia and ask if the antipsychotics are an appropriate course for you.

    I would imagine he would arrange a psychiatrist consult for you as he is unlikely to have this medical specialist knowledge so I would ask him for the consult if I were in your shoes.

    In advance of this try the ear defenders, noise cancelling headphones or whatever you have available to see if these help.

    Start keeping a detailed diary of what you eat & drink, when, what medication you take and when then also journal your symptoms so you can see if there is any corrolation between your diet and symptoms.

    It is probably wise to remove stimulants such as caffaine, tobacco and - where practical - sugar to help reduce these influences.

    Any other relaxants you take (weed etc) are also worth removing for a few weeks to get as clean a body chemistyr as possible in case blood work is needed.

    By creating this baseline state you can more clearly see the impact of what you ingest.

    What insomnia medication are you taking (including the dose)? It does not seem to be working so should be included in the conversation with the psychiatrist. We may have some insight into common issues with your prescription and the neurodiverse mind.

    I suspect it is worth writing as much of this down as you can so you can cover everything effectively in the meeting.

    Remember that I am just some random from the internet so think long and hard before following any advice here and do your own research please.

  • Hi  , I am sorry you’re experiencing severe insomnia. You might find it useful to have a look at our Sleep guide, which also expands on some of the points you’ve already mentioned: https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/physical-health/sleep/autistic-adults

    Best wishes,

    Anna Mod